


Where's Roman?

by MagicalLove12



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Angst, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Sweetheart, Caring Logic | Logan Sanders, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, Divorce, Hero AU, M/M, Morality | Patton Sanders Angst, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Good Friend, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Sweetheart, Multi, Past Character Death, Superheroes, Sympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), not a whole lot of Vee angst so far, they kinda all of angst but idk how much we're gonna touch upon that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:07:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29078325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicalLove12/pseuds/MagicalLove12
Summary: TS Sides superhero au but guess what? Roman disappears~ and the Prince isn't showing up to patrolsWhat could this possibly mean?The other three heroes are about to find out!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, LAMP - Relationship, LAMP/CALM, Probably - Relationship, TO BE DETERMINED - Relationship, but not one hundred percent sure yet, romantic LAMP - Relationship
Kudos: 13





	1. Where's Princey?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm literally so sorry for making another wip  
> there'll be infrequent updates if any updates so read with caution.  
> I wrote this instead of sleeping lol  
> Hope you enjoy! :)

“Get down”  
A blast of ice shot past Patton, missing his glasses by a mere inch, “Lo! You’re up!” Logan teleported across the street, grabbing the power cancelling cuffs midair. “Faster dude!” Virgil grunted as he struggled to restrain the rogue vigilante against the cool concrete. Tension drained out of Virgil’s stance as Logan took over. The villain was cuffed and sent back to the police station. Patton bounded up to Virgil. The emo gave out a little huff, did he have to do this after every fight? He’d never admit it, but that thought had just a bit of fondness to it. “Yes, Pat?”  
“Come on, come on, come on, come on, please?” Patton was practically begging the guy. Virgil shook his head with a minuscule smile, “No, Pathos. You already know the answer. We can’t go shopping or have a movie night or grab coffee. We can't know each other. Working together is different.” Patton didn’t attempt to hide his disappointment and the sight tugged at Virgil’s heartstrings but he knew it was for the best. As always, Patton brightened up with a promise of “Maybe next time?” Virgil was running out of time. Not literally or even theoretically? Just how was he supposed to hide his identity from them with a clean conscience when they had had his back at every turn. They trusted him and yet, he wasn’t ready for that. Logan approached the two heroes after turning in the other fellow to the police. He could’ve just teleported but the modest man believed walking was more efficient, in regards to social customs and health. He was strange but Virgil did find it strangely sweet of him to avoid flaunting his powers.

That was one thing the fourth member of their quartet didn’t understand.  
Logan nodded at the two, “Have either of you heard from the Prince?” Virgil blew a raspberry, “He didn’t tell you he wouldn’t show? Typical.” Patton gave Virgil a lil ‘come on friendo cut the guy some slack’ look, “He hasn’t talked to me.” “How strange. He usually does inform me when there is a scheduling conflict.” Virgil shifted uncomfortably. He knew the prince guy had to take  
hero-ing seriously to some degree with how often he worked cases and patrolled the states and yet he still made that snide comment. The other two probably thought Vee was an entitled jerk. Virgil was new to their band of heroes. After being caught in a situation where he ended up rescuing Pathos from a civilian with uncontrolled fire powers, Virgil also known as Anxiety had been invited to join Patton’s little group. Virgil hadn’t liked the prospect of fighting crime with others but he wasn’t pressured into it and after watching the news everyday he knew he had to do something. Pathos, the lovable idiot, was getting injured right and left. He always tried to help everyone, including villains, at his own expense. The amount of bandages the cheerful man conceals under his uniform is concerning. It isn’t really Virgil’s place to say anything. But he couldn’t just let the dummy run off into danger without more protection!  
“Anx?” Virgil snapped out of his thoughts, “Sorry. What was that?”  
“Not a problem, Pathos just suggested stopping by our usual meeting place in case our ‘royal highness’ is lounging about.” Virgil snorted at Logan’s attempt at air quotes. “Good plan,” Virgil placed a hand on his shoulder as he walked by him. A small tug on the sleeve of Virgil’s free hand made him twist back around.

“Hm?”  
“Could we all go? As a group? And we could hang out a bit.”

Virgil was ready to refuse the offer but the curiosity in Logic’s eyes made him pause. He really hadn’t made time to spend with the others. Other than the first few weeks of becoming closer with Pathos, that is. They all, Roman and Logan, more so, definitely thought of him as an enigma and he wanted to keep it that way… But between Logic’s curiosity and Patton’s hope Virgil decided to make an exception, just this once. It was only to check on a fellow hero, or so he told himself. “Alright.” Patton lit up, he was practically glowing and even Logan had visibility brightened. Virgil chewed on the side of his cheek, this would be fine. It was just one outing.  
The band of heroes vacated the crime scene with a newfound sense of adventure. When they arrived at the regular meeting spot there was no trace of their princely partner. “Awe! That’s a shame.” Patton would say. “Indeed, it is.” The nerd would agree with a firm nod. And the emo would simply nod about how it was a bummer that the dude wasn’t there. He didn’t prefer for the guy to be gone but he was less attached to him than the other two. Princey and he had a rocky relationship starting out. Their bickering had become more playful than malicious and Virgil actually found himself looking forward to their interactions, as much as he despised his enjoyment. When it came down to it though, he didn’t care that much. He could go a day without seeing him.

He wasn’t even thinking about it that much. Sure, he thought about it when all of the heroes had jumped in to take down the villain. And he may’ve also thought about him when the villain was arrested. And maybe he thought about what life would be like if he knew the men behind these masks during the majority of his college classes… but that wasn’t the point! He wasn’t attached to Roman or Logan or anyone! Okay maybe a tiny bit to Patton but that’s it. And he could easily get over that, right?  
Virgil opened the door to his dorm building. His regular ‘emo’ clothes were on with his hero outfit balled up in his black backpack. A little dirt or gravel or something was still in his hair from the battle but he had managed to get most of it out. He ran a hand through his hair one more time before entering the hallway. Virgil did not have a good time hanging out with the others. It was very tense and uncomfortable and they might’ve made him laugh but that didn’t change the fact that he had better things to do. Virgil opened the door to his door room and flopped down face first on his bed after throwing off his backpack. Oh yeah. This was so much better. Solitude and freedom and what the hell is that beeping? With a groan Virgil slunk himself out of bed and over to the origin of the sound, a phone on the other bed. His roommate must’ve left his phone behind. Phone calls made him uncomfortable but his roommate was probably looking for his own phone and calling it so… “Roman? Are you okay? Where are you? No one’s seen you since this morning and you had classes all day. Dude, I’m freaking out.”  
“Uhm. Hi?”  
The person snapped out of their spiral at the voice that was most definitely not Roman, “Uh hi. Do you know where Roman is?”  
Virgil toyed with the tassel of his hoodie, “No.. Is he okay? Errr sorry you probably don’t know that and that isn’t a good question. Let’s uh, let's start from the beginning? Love how I say that like I have a clue on what's going on.” “Okay so what do you-” “Right, sorry. I’m his roommate, Virgil and I found his phone on his bed.” “He went home? And left without his phone? That’s bizarre. Oh, and I’m Thomas by the way.”  
“Hi, Thomas.”  
“Hi, Virgil.”  
“Is there anything I can do to help you find him? Does this happen often?”  
“Oh. Uh no, it’s okay. There probably isn’t anything you can do. He always texts when something’s up, he never just disappeared like this.” “Virgil glanced at the door as if Roman was about to walk in any second, “Okay well I’ll let you know if I see him. And hey, he probably just got distracted by a broadway actor or something and lost track of time.” Virgil had no idea if this was reassuring or not but Thomas gave a breathy laugh and agreed with him before saying goodbye and ending the call. Virgil put the phone back on it’s place on the bed before sitting down on his bed. With shaky, nervous hands, Virgil pulled out the hero group chat on discord. The group hardly used it unless they really needed to get in contact with the others. Most topics could wait until their bidaily patrols. This couldn’t.

Patton put down the ingredients he had been mixing as his phone gave off a meow-ing sound.  
Logan looked up from his worksheet at the brief buzz.

He smiled at Anxiety’s username only to then read the message he sent.

_**Roman Prince is missing.** _

_(………….Logic is typing)_  
_(...............PuppyCatPie is typing)_  
_[several people are typing at once]_

How do you know?  
-Logic

Is he okay?????  
-PuppyCatPie

Sorry for messaging I’m just panicking  
-PanicAtTheEverywhere

_[several people are typing at once]_

He’s probably fine. I might just be over reacting. I shouldn’t have bothered you  
-PanicAtTheEverywhere

That’s okay kiddo! This kinda stuff can be freaky!!  
-PuppyCatPie

(He wasn’t here when I….)

_[a chat has been deleted]_

His friend or roommate or someone has been calling around asking if people know where he is  
-PanicAtTheEverywhere

Thanks Pat  
-PanicAtTheEverywhere

We should meet up and search for him. It isn’t safe for a college student to be wandering around all on their own.  
-Logic

-Virgil’s brows furrowed, he hadn’t mentioned that Roman was a college student which meant...-

Don’t worry you two, we’ll find that dramatic bean!  
-PuppyCatPie

-Virgil didn’t mention he was a dramatic theater kid either. So Virgil knows someone in common with TWO of his hero partners. Keeping this a secret will be… fan-fucking-tastic. Watch Princey know his roommate too. That would be painful and hilarious-

They all agreed to meet on the library roof. You know, a library in a college that none of them went to except the missing person they were working to and had no personal attachment to… So anyways! Virgil didn’t know if the other two came to the same conclusion as him, regardless he kept the fact they likely know each other to himself. Besides, they need to focus on finding Roman, anyway. This was going to be a very... very... very long day. Hopefully Princey would at least show up.


	2. The Auditorium

Logan ran his fingers along the door back into the library from the roof. Since he worked at the library and had just been finishing up there when Anxiety had texted, he arrived on the roof first. The pitter patter of feet behind him caused Logan to look up, expecting a silly wave or lopsided smile. Pathos did neither of those things. He just nodded in acknowledgement and asked for the plan. Logan was midway through suggesting they wait for the others before he began explaining when Anxiety arrived. “We are all here, Specs.” Logan would’ve jumped in surprise had he not noticed Pathos looking passed Logan at something. This brilliant deduction theorized it must’ve been Anxiety, he was right but still impressed with his inability to hear the other approach. Anxiety was definitely the most stealthy out of all of them. “What about Prince?” “I guess we can assume he’s not coming. If he’s able, he can message us.” They all nodded in agreement, “Do we have any idea why he would disappear? Perhaps he was running away or a robbing turned into a kidnapping?”   
Virgil shook his head, “From what I know of the guy, his whole life is here. I don’t know of any reason for him to run away.”   
“So then robbing is our best guess?”   
“No. We cannot rule out any possibilities as of yet, I was merely stating possibilities.” Patton clenched his hands into fists, “So what do we do? Go to where he was last seen?”   
“That would be ideal, yes.”   
Virgil subtly pulled out Roman’s phone and shot Thomas a text asking where he was last seen.

(………….DefinitelyNotDramatic is typing)  
(................RainbowRainbowRAINBOW is typing)

ROMAN?!?!?!?!?!  
-RainbowRainbowRAINBOW

Hey, any idea where Roman was last seen?  
-DefinitelyNotDramatic

Oh..Hi Virgil?  
-RainbowRainbowRAINBOW  
I think Joan saw him last and that would’ve been in the theater  
-RainbowRainbowRAINBOW

Okay, thanks  
-DefinitelyNotDramatic

Sooo  
-RainbowRainbowRAINBOW

?  
-DefinitelyNotDramatic

Why do you ask?  
-RainbowRainbowRAINBOW

Just looking around with a couple friends. I’ll let you know if we find anything  
-DefinitelyNotDramatic

(................RainbowRainbowRAINBOW is typing)

“Virgil”

Virgil shoved the phone into his pocket, “Yeah?”

“Pathos and I were just saying we should check out his dorm room. He likely left behind receipts or something that could hint at his recent whereabouts.”

“That’s actually really smart,” Virgil was struggling to come up with an explanation for his newfound information, “He was actually last seen in the college theater.” Logan opened his mouth, likely to inquire how he knew but Patton cut him off, “Take us there.” Logic nodded and grasped each of their hands before teleporting them to the theater he’d occasionally visited. Virgil and Patton felt a bit light headed but were otherwise unbothered by the trip.   
“Um, hi?” Patton looked over to see Joan and Tayln sitting in the audience seats with puffy eyes and intertwined hands. “Hey there kiddos,” He began softly, “We’re here to help find a Roman Prince.” Both pairs of eyes widened. “Is there anything you can tell us about when you last saw him?” Patton tried to ask the question in a way that didn’t give away the fact he knew those two were close with Roman and definitely saw him at some point before he vanished. “Oh, um yeah. Roman and I came over here last night to get in some extra practice for the musical. I had an exam the next morning or uh this morning, I guess, so I left early. I left him here about 9 o'clock? And knowing Roman, he was probably here until, at least, 2 am.” Patton nodded, “Thank you, I know it’s hard to talk about. We will find your friend.” The trio of heroes began to walk away before Joan cleared their throat, “There’s more,” Virgil absent mindedly wondered if the others would run their fingers along his arm if he needed comfort, just like Tayln was doing for Joan, “We came back when Thomas told us that no one had seen him and,” 

Joan’s voice was shaking heavily now and Tayln buried them in their arms. Tayln couldn’t bear Joan’s pain, or even their own for that matter, “Go into the dressing room.” Something in her eyes reminded Patton of a parent who had just lost their child, even though Tayln was shorter than Roman and by the dramatic fellow’s logic, his child. Funny how everyone thinks differently. Virgil wanted to comfort the two or encourage them to go get some rest, but they were likely having the worst day of their lives. Even if..when they found Roman, the fear and pain his loved ones faced wouldn't be undo-able. Logan pushed open the handle to the dressing room open, it was impossible to see in, due to the lack of light. Logan was immediately on high alert from the smell that wafted into the open space. He didn’t get a chance to warn the other two before Patton barreled in at the smell of iron. Logan followed Patton in alarm, painfully aware of the wetness beneath his shoes. Virgil shuddered as he was able to place what the smell was, blood. 

By the time Virgil worked up the courage to walk through the door, step on something wet, and turn on the light, Patton was clutching something and nearly on the brink of tears. Logan tried to coax Pathos into releasing the bloodied sash but Patton didn’t see the fabric as a sash, he saw it as a part of Roman. They’d grown up together. Aside from working as a superhero, they knew virtually everything about each other. They were best friends. “Isn’t that his--?” “Anxiety I don't think this is the best time for-” “It’s his favorite costume. I..” Patton hiccuped, “I got it for him before his first audition. He said it was his favorite.” 

Virgil was reeling, there was no way that all of this blood was Roman’s. Roman, the guy he hated rooming with, in the beginning. The guy he’d eventually opened up to having movie marathons with. The very same guy who would order them a pizza to share when he noticed Virgil was having a particularly tough day. He couldn’t be this hurt or injured at all for that matter, Virgil wouldn’t allow it. “We’ll get him back,” He was practically growling but he didn’t care. “Pathos,” Logan gently prompted, “If you know him maybe you could help us figure out what happened.” Pathos had managed to calm down a bit but a few tears continued to roll down his cheeks, “You guys weren’t supposed to know that,” he wiped away as many tears as he could, accidently smearing some of the blood onto his face, “I’m sorry.” “Hey, dude, it’s okay. It’s not like I know your name and even if I did, I wouldn’t be mad at you.” 

Virgil knew the apology was directed at him. Logic probably wouldn’t care about something like that but he reassured the other nonetheless, “Neither would I.” Patton let go of the sash as Logic led him to a spare sink. He tenderly cleaned the blood off of Pathos’s cheek and hands. With the gentle expression on Logic’s face, Virgil felt like he was intruding on something. He looked at the floor to avoid looking at them, only to become even more sick to his stomach at the sight of all that blood. If the Prince were here he’d tease Virgil about his distaste for blood since “not liking blood clashes with his edgy loner aesthetic,” whatever that means. The thought managed to make Virgil smile, even if only a little. “How do you guys think Prince is doing?” The other two seemed to be mostly finished with cleaning themselves off. There were still specks of blood on their uniforms but he assumed that would be dealt with on a later date. 

“I have no idea and it bothers me.” Logan sighed, “He’s usually reckless, sure but he’s also the first to respond to our messages. The fact that he hasn’t contacted us in two days is worrisome.” “Guys,” Patton’s mouth struggled to keep up with his mind, “What if he’s involved in this?” The other two shared a look of confusion, “What?” “Roman’s been gone for a day or so. And the Prince has been gone for about that long. Right?” The other two murmured affirmations. “So what if he was involved with whatever happened to Roman? If he noticed Ro was in danger he would’ve stepped in,” Patton was gesturing frantically, “So maybe he tried to rescue him and they both got kidnapped or something!” Virgil nodded hesitantly, “That does kinda fit Princey’s M.O.” “I suppose it is possible. It would somewhat make sense.” 

Something burned in Pathos’s eyes, “If I’m right, I know how to find Roman.”


	3. The Cemetery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton might know how to find Roman

“Okay explain this one more time?” 

Patton fidgeted with his hair, “My powers allow me to manipulate the emotional and consequently physical feelings of a person, yes?”

The other two heroes nodded.

“Well, I may’ve left out something about my abilities because I didn’t want to worry you,” Patton smiled apoligetically, “I can also feel what other people are feeling. That’s where my hero name actually comes from, empathy, pathos. As a matter of fact-”

“Pat.”

“Yes?”

“You’re rambling.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Why would that knowledge cause us concern.”

“Because then you can’t really keep anything to yourself. If you have a bad day, I’d be able to sense it and probably further upset you by trying to help.”

“Has,” Virgil started, “has that happened?”

Patton waved his hands frantically, “Not in a long time! I use my power on myself so that it can’t happen anymore.”

“What do you mean use your power on yourself?”

“I can’t sense the feelings of others if I’m projecting an emotion or feeling onto myself. It also doesn’t prevent me from being able to project feelings onto others so it doesn’t mess up my hero work.”

“Patton, dude, that can’t be healthy.”

“Nonono. If I do this then I’m not invading anyone’s privacy. I’m happy. Just.. everything’s better this way.”

“Are you happy?” Patton looked at Logan, “When you stop using your powers to relax at the end of the day, are you happy?”

Patton avoided his gaze, “I believe you’re practicing what is referred to as repression.”

Patton huffed, “We can discuss this later. Right now we need to help Ro. Basically why I told you guys that is because Princey has loud emotions. If I hone in on his feelings, I should be able to lead us to him. “

“Okay, so how do we do that?” Virgil noticed Logic didn’t seem ready to move on with the conversation but he followed the others’ lead, “We should go to an area of emotional significance for him or acquire a possession he has a connection to.” 

“Right,” Patton pulled out the google maps app on his phone, “Do you know which cemetery the funeral was?”

“Funeral?” Logic looked just as puzzled as he did.  
Patton seemed to realize his mistake too late, he didn’t mean to reveal personal information, “Yeah.. So I’m going to take that as a no?” The other heroes confirmed that suspicion. “All I know is the date of death. I don’t know the person’s name or really anything else. Lo, can we find the cemetery with that?” “With my abilities, that shouldn’t be a problem. I should caution you both, if we go down this road, we will inevitably discover things about the Prince’s secret identity. Do you both wish to proceed?” “Yes.” “Yes.” “Very well, the date?” “4-24-89” In a flash of navy light, Logan disappeared. The light reappeared every few seconds alongside multiplying names written across the roof. Finally, Logan’s form became visible again, “I have written the names down of everyone with that same date of death. There were three in the Sunfield Cemetery and two in the Greenville Cemetery.” Virgil’s eyes darted between the names, he was recognizing none of them. Virgil hadn’t realized he’d drew in an audible breath until the other two questioned him on it, “Remus Duke. That’s Roman’s old last name.” Roman lived a happy life with his parents until his twin died and parents divorced. There wasn’t anyone to side with him when the fighting started and there wasn’t anyone to comfort him either. Remus had died and Roman would never see him again. He didn’t just lose his favorite person, he watched his parents’ relationship fall apart. So, he became the perfect son. His mother won custody of him after the divorce, he didn’t care who he lived with, he’d already lost the one he cared about most. No one else mattered. Nothing else mattered. He’d eventually stumbled upon Patton in high school. They started out as friendly acquaintances before Roman broke down crying during their sleepover. Apparently Patton voicing a random thought that had popped into his head reminded him of Remus. It took months, years, actually, for Patton to learn the entire story. There was no way Anxiety could’ve known that.   
Patton bit the inside of his cheek, “How’d you find that out?” “Research,” He lied. 

“If Remus Duke is the correct person, then… He’s located at the Greenville Cemetery, let us depart.”

Logan held out his hands for the others to take. The next moment they opened their eyes, they’d be greeted with the smell of unkempt grass and the sight of chipped tombstones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I put Thomas's Bday as Remus's death day because I couldn't decide when I want this story to take place?  
> ...you have no proof ;)
> 
> Anyways hope u liked it


End file.
